I don’t like to be pushy (hey, don’t laugh!), but you’ve really got to try these. I aim to share only my best recipes here, but this one is the best of the best.

If you like Asian pork meatballs, you will love these. They’re a flavor explosion of pork, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and Thai basil. They also come together in just a few minutes, with the help of your food processor. And there is zero time at the stove – they’re cooked in the oven.

To get started, zizz the herbs and spices in the food processor and add them to the ground pork. With your hands, mix all of the meatball ingredients together and then scoop them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

The pickled vegetables are simple, you can make them while the meatballs bake.

These meatballs are delicious served in lettuce cups with quick pickled vegetables and spicy, sesame-sriracha mayonnaise. Or for quick party fare, skip the pickled vegetables and lettuce cups and serve the meatballs on the end of party toothpicks with a side of the spicy mayonnaise for dipping.

With the food processor running, through the shoot add garlic, ginger, lemon grass and basil. Process until minced.

Place ground pork in a medium bowl. Add garlic mixture from food processor bowl along with soy sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper. Using your hands, combine ingredients taking care not to overmix which would make your meatballs tough.

With a 3 tablespoon scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop out scant 1/4 cup portions of pork mixture and place on prepared baking sheet. Once meatballs are portioned, quickly roll each between your palms to make rounds. Arrange meatballs on baking sheet with an inch or two of space between each one.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.

To make the Quick Pickled Vegetables:

Combine carrot and daikon radish strips with rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Toss to coat.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To make Spicy Sesame-Sriracha Mayonnaise:

In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, sriracha and sesame oil.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble lettuce cups:

Arrange lettuce leaves on serving platter.

On each leaf, place about a tablespoon of Quick Pickled Vegetables, 1 teaspoon of Spicy Sesame-Sriracha Mayonnaise (or more) and one meatball. Serve.

Marissa, I *love* your posts. I’ve never heard of “zizz-ing” in my food processor, but whoo!!! it sounds exciting…, so girl, I’m sssooo doing it!!! And, these meatballs? You can count on it. These are so happening in my kitchen. Pinned, pinned, zizzed, then pinned again! 🙂 xoxo

What a wonderful idea Marissa! I always felt reluctant to cook the minced pork cups because they’re kind of messy to cook and eat. The meatballs idea is genius! It make the mouthfeel of the dish better and easy to serve at a party! Pinning and sharing

I love it!!! I love everything about this!!! Do you think Italian grandmothers did not have ovens and that’s why they didn’t use ovens for meatballs? Because aren’t meatballs in the oven just the best?!? I love this honey!!! Absolutely fantastic!!! I gotta try this quick pickling thing 🙂

Oh yum!!! I love the flavors going on in the meatballs; I’d have to sub chicken or turkey for the pork because hubs and I don’t eat it, but I think it would work fine. Love that you served these meatballs in lettuce cups too…I’m on a real lettuce cup kick lately!

I think that turkey or chicken would work beautifully, Faith! In fact, I think I’ll try them that way next time. Lettuce cups are fun, aren’t they. An easy way to lighten up a dish and they’re so convenient for handheld food.

omg Marissa these look soooo good! You’ve got me sold! I am definitely going to try out this recipe for lunch this week. I love the fact that it’s a carb-free meal too as I already eat enough bread as it is :p

There’s that sesame mayo again 😉 I’m a huge fan of lettuce wraps, but I’ve never made them with meatballs – why have I not done this! This is not only so much easier than the way I do it, but so much flavor too! No appetizer for me, these are a full on meal!

Hi Marissa! I’m an appetizer addict! It’s just so much more fun to eat a variety of little things (like tapas). I like using lettuce as the delivery vehicle because it’s much less filling than bread or crackers, which means I can eat more of them! On the rare occasions we go out to eat I almost always order off the “starter” section of the menu, unless they have duck breast or rack of lamb which I can’t resist! As far as I’m concerned keep on being pushy! 🙂

Haha – okay, I’ll keep being pushy. 🙂 And, you’re my kind of girl, Dorothy. We eat almost all of them, just Keith and I, and didn’t feel one bit guilty. We’re big on ordering from the starter menu or splitting a couple of dishes.